3/05/2009 @ 4:50PM

Crackdown On Medical Device Ads

The medical industry’s direct-to-consumer advertising has always been controversial, but one medical group is taking steps to ensure that its constituents are keeping their marketing clear and concise.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association, which represents medical device makers, released a new set of guidelines that its members have voluntarily taken up to make advertising more comprehensible to the public.

Beyond the current regulations enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, AdvaMed said that endorsements by celebrities are acceptable as long as the ads are truthful and clearly state when actors are being used. The regulations are voluntary and not enforceable by the FDA.

The industry watch group Prescription Project raised concerns about medical device advertising in December when several ads from
Abbott Laboratories
and
Medtronic
ran on YouTube. Abbott and Medtronic are two of the largest U.S. makers of stents, the small, wire-mesh devices that are implanted into arteries to keep them open.

Several watch groups have voiced concerns over the clarity of the ads. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group for the pharmaceutical industry, said in December that it would put into place similar voluntary regulations for the pharmaceutical industry concerning its direct-to-consumer advertising. Ads for such products as Pfizer’s Viagra, an impotence drug, have been scrutinized because they’re not child-friendly.

The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow DTC advertising.